What every coach actually needs
This is a great one to Google. Type in “top 10 resources for coaches” and you’ll be inundated. Tip sheets, models involving icebergs, quadrants and Venn diagrams, and of course “millionaire coaching business” programmes!
What this blog offers is something more down to earth, practical, and focussed on two core elements. We’ll look at the coaching skills and the coachee experience. If you were hoping for widgets, gadgets and lists of questions, then Google’s the place!
Books – but with a health warning
There are many, many books written specifically about coaching. It’s great to have one, and one written by an experienced coach who shares your approach and values. This is easier said than done. Every coaching book I have read has plenty that I agree with, but bits that I don’t! These are the best I can recommend at the moment, with that caveat.
- The art of coaching, Rogers. The nearest thing to our course text book for our training programmes
- Co-active coaching, Kimsey-House. The spirit of non-directive coaching is alive and well here
- Excellence in coaching, Passmore. Each chapter is written by a different author, focussing on one aspect of coaching practice.
If you would rather learn alongside other coaches than only from books, you can read more about our ILM coaching qualifications.
Recording device
If we don’t record and playback our coaching sessions, we are relying on our fallible memories to assess our coaching. Audio recording on our phones, tables or a dictaphone work just fine. Video recording on Zoom or Skype are even better. Don’t just record it, but listen back to it later!
ICF core competencies
Of the many thousands of documents and articles about coaching, my absolute favourite is one produced by the ICF. It maps out the expected competencies of coaches at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. They use 11 core competencies. In the document they put detailed notes in on what a coach at each level will be doing, and also avoid doing. It has been one of the most useful things in my development as a coach, and for coach training. It can be downloaded here https://coachfederation.org/app/uploads/2017/12/ICFCompetenciesLevelsTable.pdf
Private place to coach
There is a temptation to save money and coach in a quiet coffee shop or hotel. But the risks are too great. Coaching is a private conversation and so our coachee needs a private environment. If you are lucky enough to be an internal coach, or go to your coachee’s premises, then a private place is available. But if not, then either book a room in a venue, or stick to coaching on Zoom. You can make sure that the cost of room hire is built into your coaching package.
The only exception I tend to make to this is if we agree to do walking coaching. In this case a park or riverside walk will be private enough.
£1 Ikea clock
Generally we have devices on us to tell the time! But we don’t want to keep rolling our sleeve up to look at our watches (or look at the pocket watch my 12 year old just bought me!). And we definitely don’t want to keep turning our phones on. I have a plentiful supply of £1 simple analogue travel clocks that I use for coach training, and for coaching. Position it visibly, and behind the coachee, and you will never have to break eye contact again to check the time! And don’t forget to check what time you started the session!
Fiddle toys
These are so useful! We always use them in a training environment – squeegees, little wooden bricks, koosh balls etc. People like to fiddle, and it helps them to relax and also stay focussed. And I also always use them in coaching. I always have a few with me and put them on the table, near to the coach, so that they can use one if they want. It’s much better than them fiddling with hair, pens or glasses!
Self reflection questionnaire for the coach
This works alongside the recording device. A simple notebook where we can write our reflections about each coaching session is a good starting point. Even better is a more detailed reflective questionnaire, where we can record our thoughts about each coaching session. A good questionnaire will have a list of criteria (questions, listening, pausing, using structure etc). Either develop your own, use one from a coaching book/resource, or email me and I’ll share mine with you. charlie@loveyourcoaching.com
Pausing is one of the criteria I always include, and you can read more about the power of pausing in coaching in this blog post I wrote.
Trusted coaching community – small one
There are so many benefits from being with a group of fellow coaches. It’s not just for camaraderie for the lonely times! There can be buddying, peer supervision, coaching partners, resource seekers, partners to attend events, possible business partners. In the last 6 years, the groups I have trained to be coaches have increasingly engaged with their fellow coaches. They use Whatsapp, go for peer supervision, share resources, getting together and much more.
A coaching supervisor
There are various guidelines and schools of thought about how often we should have coaching supervision. Whatever the variations, it’s clear that coaches who earn a living this way need to have access to a supervisor. You can choose the approach
- one offs for crisis moments
- regular sessions each month
- one year on and one year off.
The main criteria is to have someone who is not only a good coach, but an experienced coaching supervisor.
An up to date development plan
Know what you know, and also know what you want to go and learn. It’s what you want your coachees to do, and so it is what will benefit us too. A plan s fundamental to the success of all coaches. We can focus on:
- improving our coaching skills
- our understanding of human behaviour and motivation
- how to grow our coaching business
Final words
That’s my top 10 resources. I’d love to hear yours! Perhaps you agree with all of mine – unlikely! More likely, you’ll have some of your own to add in. Do share them with me. The only criteria for my lists are that they need to be useful to coachee and coach, and as accessible to all.
Happy list building and happy coaching
Charlie Warshawski
Have you given yourself the chance to be coached? It is an opportunity to stop, reflect, raise your awareness and find a new focus or direction. Every person who comes to coaching brings a different goal, idea, challenge or aspiration. And so can you.
I work 1:1 with you, on timescales to suit, focussing on you and your needs. For full details of how we’ll work together, get in touch.
